It is well known that common shower installations may consist of a bathtub with a shower curtain in a three walled shower enclosure. An enclosure around a portion of the installation may include a moveable curtain closure along the remaining portion or portions of the installation. The movable curtain closure may be a shower curtain which does not provide ample room for the person showering. There have been several disclosed attempts to provide enlarged shower areas, such as a modified shower curtain rod having an offset medial section for guiding the shower curtain which hangs therefrom out into the bathroom area, generally giving more shoulder room. In the case of large men or women showering, more room is needed for comfortable showering.
The abovementioned prior art device has a disadvantage in that the offset medial section curtain rod permanently displaces the shower curtain outwardly from the bathtub area, thereby permanently enlarging the shower area into the bathroom area and causing the shower curtain to hang against the inside of the bathtub instead of hanging freely. This creates a problem, because when the shower curtain is in this position, it cannot properly dry, thereby accelerating the grow of bacteria, mold, and fungus on the curtain and drastically decreasing the service life of the shower curtain, and it reduces the usable space in the bathroom area both literally and psychologically.
Other attempts have been made to enlarge the shower area which include a type of enlarging attachment to be secured to or on a standard linear shower curtain rod. These attachments require modifications to the standard curtain rod which may involve drilling and attaching or otherwise mechanically mounting the attachment to the standard shower curtain rod. One such attachment acts to bow out the curtain itself to enlarge the shower area. Such an attachment must be put into place after the person climbs into the shower area and is longer than the standard curtain rod. It is mounted by abutting the ends between opposing walls of the shower enclosure. The size of the attachment may make proper placement difficult and awkward for some people. The following patents describe these and other prior art means for enlarging a shower area.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,504 issued July 5, 1988 to Cellini discloses a shower stall structure for bathing having a shower area defined on three sides by upright walls and an open area with a shower curtain mounted therein to provide a covered point of entry for a person. A shower enlarger is mounted in the shower area. The shower enlarger comprises a one-piece curtain rod having an offset medial section engageable with an upper area of the shower curtain for providing greater stall space for upper body movement while showering. The offset medial section includes a pair of angular curtain rod sections which extend in a diverging relation away from opposite ends of the offset medial section. The angular curtain rod sections are attached to its end sections at the outer ends. The outer ends of the end sections extend in opposite directions away from one another. A fastening structure is provided for securing the outer ends of the end sections to the walls of the shower area. The end sections are positioned in relation to the midsection so as to extend generally in the same direction.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,418,665 issued on Dec. 31, 1968 to Long discloses a shower space extending installation comprising a space-extending, generally U-shaped curtain rod which includes an elongated portion and legs which extend substantially at right angles thereto. Attachment means are carried by each of the legs in proximity to the elongated portion, and friction bumpers are mounted at the end of each leg. The space extending rod may be connected to a normal shower curtain rod by the attachment means so that the ends of the legs push against the opposite shower stall wall and the elongated portion projects laterally outwardly of the usual curtain rod and shower space.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,872,520 issued on Mar. 25, 1975 to Tyconik discloses a shower curtain supporting member comprising an inverted U-shaped mounting member intended to be disposed over an existing shower curtain rail between an appropriate pair of curtain rings. Four arms are pivotally mounted on one leg of the mounting member for movement between an open position and a closed position in which they hang downwardly generally alongside each other and in which they can be concealed behind the shower curtain when not in use. Aligned openings are provided in the mounting member and the curtain rail to receive a pin which in turn hold the arms angularly outwardly relative to and against the curtain. The arms can then be pivoted into an open fan-like orientation to prevent blowing of the curtain against a person taking a shower. The curtain also serves to hold the arms in the fan-like orientation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,229,842 issued Oct. 28, 1980 to Fillmore discloses a shower curtain adapter for expanding the showering space within a shower enclosure. The enclosure has first and second vertical sidewalls, a third wall which extends between the first and second sidewalls and a shower curtain which hangs a linear standard curtain rod between the first and second walls. The adapter includes an adapter rod having a length which is greater than the distance between the first and second walls and which is made of a flexible material. The adapter rod may be mounted in an operative fashion between the first and second walls to flex into a bow configuration for engaging the hanging shower curtain and pushing it outward of the enclosure to expand the showering space. A coupling means for supporting the adapter rod from the standard curtain rod is pivotally coupled at one end thereof to the adapter rod and has means at the other end for coupling to the standard curtain rod to prevent downward movement of the adapter rod when mounted in its operative position. When in its storage position, the adapter rod hangs by the coupling means from the curtain rod and may be concealed behind the shower curtain.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a shower enlarger assembly that temporarily increases the showering area while temporarily reducing the area available in the rest of the bathroom only when a person is showering. When showering is finished, the shower enlarger assembly would be most advantageous if it would retract the shower enlarger to restore the original area of the bathroom and allow the shower curtain to hang freely within the shower area to dry properly, thereby substantially preventing the growth of mold and mildew.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a shower enlarger assembly which temporarily increases the showering area when a person is showering, does not reduce the area in the rest of the bathroom when the shower is complete, and allows the shower curtain to hang freely and dry so that the growth of mold is inhibited.